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Rock Me to Sleep, Mother. 



BY 



y 



ELIZABETH AKERS ALLEN. 



ILLUSTRATED. 



"st?^ 21. 1882 




BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED BY ESTES AND LAURIAT. 

1883. 



.Ay 1^4 



Copyright, 1882, 
By Estes and Lauriat. 



University Press: 
John Wilson & Son, Cambridge. 



l-lasiRflTIOKS 



Drtnon and Eitorai'cd under the supervision of 
George T. Axdrew. 



ARTISTS: 



S. G. McCUTCHEON. 

F. S. Church. 

E. H. Garrett. 



Jessie Curtis Shepherd. 
W. L. Taylor. 

Francis Miller. 



Frontispiece. 

" Backward, turn backward, O Time, in your flight " ii 

" Mother, come back from the echoless shore " 13 

" Over my slumbers your loving watch keep, — rock me to sleep, mother, rock 

me to sleep" 15 

" I am so weary of toil and of tears" 17 

" Backward, flow backward, O tide of the years !"..... 19 



" I have grown weary of dust and decay " lo 

" Weary of sowing for others to reap " ip 

" Many a summer the grass has grown green " 21 

" Many a summer the grass has grown green, blossomed and faded, our faces 

between " 23 

" Yet, with strong yearning and passionate pain, long I to-night for your 

presence again " 25 

" No love like mother-love ever has shone " 27 

"None like a mother can charm away pain" 29 

" Haply will throng the sweet visions of yore " 31 

" Shading my faint eyes away from the light " 23 

" For with its sunny-edged shadows once more, haj^Iy will throng the sweet 

visions of yore " 35 

" Since I last listened your lullaby song '' . 37 

" Never hereafter to wake or to weep " 39 




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Backward, turn backward, O Time, in your 

flight, 
Make me a child again, just for to-night ! 
Mother, come back from the echoless shore, 
Take me again to your heart, as of yore ; 
Kiss from my forehead the furrows of care, 
Smooth the few silver threads out of my hair. 
Over my slumbers your loving watch keep, — 
Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep. 

Backward, flow backward, O tide of the years ! 
I am so weary of toil and of tears, — 
Toil without recompense, tears all in vain. 
Take them and give me my childhood again ; 
I have grown weary of dust and decay, 
Weary of flinging my soul-wealth away, 
\\^eary of sowing for others to reap, — 
Rock mc to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep. 

Tired of thj hollow, the base, the untrue, 
Mother, O mother, my heart calls for you ; 
Many a summer the grass has grown green, 
Blossomed and faded, our faces between. 
Yet, with strong yearning and passionate pain, 
Long I to-night for your presence again. 
Come from the silence so long and so deep, — 
Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep. 



Over my heart, in the days that are flown. 
No love like mother-love ever has shone ; 
No other worship abides and endures 
Faithful, unselfish, and patient, like yours ; 
None like a mother can charm away pain 
From the sick soul and the world-weary brain. 
Slumber's soft calms o'er my heavy lids creep, — 
Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep. 

Come, let your brown hair, just lighted with 

gold, 
Fall on your shoulders again, as of old ; 
Let it drop over my forehead to-night, 
Shading my faint eyes away from the light. 
For with its sunny-edged shadows once more. 
Haply will throng the sweet visions of yore ; 
Lovingly, softly, its bright billows sweep, — 
Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep. 

Mother, dear mother, the years have been long. 
Since I last listened your lullaby song ; 
Sing, then, and unto my soul it shall seem 
Womanhood's years have been only a dream. 
Clasped to your heart in a loving embrace, 
With your light lashes just sweeping my face, 
Never hereafter to wake or to weep, — 
Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep. 




ROCK ME TO SLEEP, MOTHER. 



Backward, turn backward, O Time, in your flight, 
Make me a child again, just for to-night ! 
Mother, come back from the echoless shore, 
Take me again to your heart, as of yore ; 
Kiss from my forehead the furrows of care. 
Smooth the few silver threads out of my hair, 




" JSIothcr, come back from the echoless shore.'''' 




Over my slumbers your loving watch keep, 

Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep. 







" / af?i so weary of toil and of Av 



Backward, , j,,!} 

flow backward, 
•j'\, O tide of the years ! 



■ ;i:.if'C/-lS3i 



'^' ■ I am so weary of toil and of tears, 



', "Sit' If' _ , 

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HiY'f > Toil without recompense, tears all in vain, 
,|i Vi /»' ' ' Take them and sjive me my childhood again ; 




I have grown weary of dust and decay, 
.\*^ Weary of flinging my soul-wealth away. 



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Weary of sowing for others to reap, — TJ;/,, , 

Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep. 



V 




'•'■Many a summer the grass has gnnvii green." 




iiied ol ihe hollow, ihc bast., the unliue, 
Mothei, O mother, in}' heai t calk foi you ; 
Many a summei the giass has gtovvn green, 
Blossomed and faded, oui faces between, 




i=i£J| 









1 ^ ' 'lU 



Yet, with strong yearning and passionate pain, 
Long I to-night for your presence again. 




Come from the silence so long and so deep, 
Rock me to sleep mother, rock me to sleep. 




' A'o love like viofhcr-lo7<e eve?- has sJiouc.'''' 



Over my heart, in the days that are flown, 
No love like mother-love ever has shone ; 




No other worship abides and endures 
Faithful, unselfish, and patient, like yours ; 
None like a mother can charm away pain 
From the sick soul and the world-weary brain. 
Slumber's soft calms o'er my heavy lids creep, — 
Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep. 




'Haply will throiig the sweet visioJis of yoreT 



Come, let your brown hair, just lighted with gold, 
Fall on youi- shoulders again, as of old ; 



Let it drop over my forehead to-night. 
Shading my faint eyes away from the light, 




"'Since I last listened your lullaby song.'' 



Mother, clear mother, the years have been long, 
Since I last listened your lullaby song ; 
Sing, then, and unto my soul it shall seem 
Womanhood's years have been only a dream. 
Clasped to your heart in a loving embrace, 
With your light lashes just sweeping my face, 
Never hereafter to wake or to weep, — 
Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep. 



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